Quick shout out to Crash88 and csimesser1for reviewing on the last chapter! Thank you! I hope this one meets your liking!
JAMES' POV
Elizabeth and Sawyer walked into Gustavo's office, with a looks of determination on their faces, though Elizabeth's looked a little more nervous, I still caught myself smiling as she walked in. She didn't take much notice to anything but Gustavo as she walked up to him.
"I assume the guys have spoken with you." She said. I could hear the tremble in her voice as she tried to hold her ground in front of him.
"I don't know why it surprises me that the dogs know my new potential artist, but yes we have spoken and I have agreed to give you an audition today." She sighed a small, but noticeable sigh of relief but still held a look of panic in her eyes, "Whenever you're ready, Kelly and I will be in the studio." Gustavo said before he and Kelly walked out.
When the door shut behind them, Elizabeth whirled around to face us, "Did he freak?" She asked with wide eyes.
"Only a little bit." I tried to assure her.
"But you still owe us for getting him to go along with it." Logan said shooting a finger gun in her direction.
"If this works, you got it." She laughed with a small smile as she and Sawyer took the lead to the studio.
Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and I stood in the studio behind Gustavo as Elizabeth took to the microphone, placing the head phones on her head, and Sawyer sat at the piano. They both looked to each other and spoke in body language only they understood before Sawyer started to play. The music sounded familiar but I couldn't place it as Elizabeth began to sing.
If there's a prize for rotten judgement, I guess I've already won that. No man is worth the aggravation. That's ancient history, been there, done that!
Oh duh, I thought and smiled at the memories of forced Disney movie marathons that Elizabeth made happen sometimes. When she would mouth what the characters would say and belt out every song. She had turned I Won't Say I'm in Love into a ballad.
Who'd'ya think you're kiddin'? He's the Earth and heaven to you; try to keep it hidden, honey, we can see right through you. Girl, ya can't conceal it, we know how ya feel and who you're thinking of. No chance, no way. I won't say it, no, no. You swoon, you sigh; why deny it, uh-oh? It's too cliché, I won't say I'm in love. I thought my heart had learned its lesson. It feels so good when you start out. My head is screaming get a grip, girl. Unless you're dying to cry your heart out, oh!
Elizabeth had finally opened her eyes during the song; she looked from Sawyer to each of us in sound control. Her eyes landed on me as she sang about crying her heart out. I swallowed hard, not being able to control it, and shifted. She couldn't possibly be singing that TO me. I looked to the floor, crossing my arms over my chest, I couldn't get my train of thought to go properly, so I was trying to not think about anything until I was able to be alone. I need to be sure.
ELIZABETH'S POV
When I was finished singing, Gustavo had sent me, Sawyer, and the 'dogs' out of the studio and to the waiting area. The guys were making some small talk, trying to make all of this less awkward and intense than it actually was. I was too nervous to talk, so I sat making eye context with objects in the room. The coffee machine was being strangely unfriendly.
My fate was being decided in the next room, it was a long shot to say the least, considering how we had to go about it, but it was all I had left. It felt like we had been waiting for hours, my brain has skill for tricking me like that. I looked to a clock on the wall; it had only been fifteen minutes. I stared at the ceiling with my head resting on the back of the couch, "He hated it," I stated, "he hated it and doesn't know how to tell me." I stood up and began pacing back and forth across the room.
"It's only been…sixteen minutes." Sawyer stated looking to the clock.
I glared as I turned away from him, continuing my trudge; as if I needed to know more time had passed, "That's 112 minutes in dog years…" I grumbled.
"You're not the dog, we're the dogs." Kendall stated as he lazily pointed to Logan, James, and Carlos. He stood up stopping me in place, holding me by the shoulders, "You did an amazing job." He tried to assure me with a smile.
I felt like I had killed it; I wanted to believe Kendall, but I had never been a patient person; panic always found a way to take over and that wasn't going to change today, "Then what is taking so long?" I asked.
His smile weakened as he sighed. Carlos jumped up and took Kendall's place, "Why don't we just think about kittens?" He asked as he pulled out his phone. He pressed a few buttons before holding it out to me. I pressed my lips to a line and took his phone from him; he had a small collection of funny cat pictures in his phone. I fought, but lost, a smile as it slowly grew across my face as I scrolled through the pictures and sat back down. Carlos sat next to me, closely with an arm slung around my shoulders looking over me to look at the pictures. I hesitated to look through them as I was suddenly aware of Carlos. The others had gone back to talking, thankfully focused on their conversation, not seeing my pause. I forced my thumb to swipe across the screen of the phone, without paying attention to it. My eyes were looking to Carlos out of my peripheral vision.
He didn't have his helmet on for a change. It was a nice surprise to see that he didn't have it on; sometimes I forgot what the top of his head looked like. He had a light smile on his face as he looked at the phone. I wonder if he knew I was looking? As if our minds were connected by a thread he caught my gaze and smiled widely. I turned my head to face him and then realized how close to me he actually was.
Carlos' jaw dropped slightly, I guess in realizing the little space between us, and he began to breathe a little heavier. I could smell his mouthwash that lingered on his breath and bit my lip, not knowing if I should say something or move or…anything, and swallowed hard. He looked like he was about to say something when Gustavo's door burst open.
"Dogs! Lady dog! …Sawyer!" Carlos and I jumped, putting a gap between the two of us, before we stood up to Gustavo's call.
My eyes went wide, "Y-you just called me Lady Dog. Does this mean what I think it means?" I asked holding my breath, though I didn't like how Lady Dog left my mouth. It felt like a nice form of the word bitch.
Gustavo stayed quiet and looked at me. I couldn't see his eyes through his sunglasses, so it was hard to get an idea on what he could possibly be thinking. I furrowed my brow and pressed my lips to a line, he wasn't planning on giving me a clue either. He held out his hand to Kelly, she turned the file folder she was holding inside out and handed it to him, "It does." Gustavo finally admitted.
I sighed and let my head fall back as I heard the guys cheer. Carlos even wrapped his arms around my torso, lifted me from the ground and spun me in a circle. I laughed as he set me back down. Gustavo cleared his throat in an obvious way for us to cool our jets. We froze; I stood facing him with my eyes wide, better not to anger the beast within.
"Don't celebrate yet, this is a contract but it is not a standard one. It is one concerning out situation, stating we cannot do anything with you until you write an original song." He said handing the contract to me. "It's pretty basic. So look it over. Sign it when you are ready and get it back to me; or Kelly. She'll probably be easier to find"
I nodded holding it to my chest, my arms crossed over it, with a small smile on my face. Though he didn't want me to celebrate, this was a victory in my eyes and there was no way it would be contained completely.
Finally in the 20's! Goodness. OKAY, quick actual author's note, I am writing both Carlos and James a little differently than how they actually are in the show. It's harder than I thought to write Carlos...Lol. I'm going to do my best to stick to the show, but when it get's a little different...that's why. I hope you guys like it either way. :) How was this chapter? Reviews please?
